Each February, we celebrate Black History Month—a significant time to draw attention to the many ways in which African Americans have helped weave the fabric of American society and continue to do so.
Today, systemic discrimination against African Americans continues to pervade innumerable aspects of our society, in recent years challenged and brought under closer scrutiny through the powerful efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Carr Center's Justice Matters podcast has a long history of exploring racial justice issues, systemic discrimination, and more through fascinating discussions with our podcast guests—a selection of which can be found below:
Black History Month: Progress, Promise, and the Future
Featuring excerpts from three conversations with a range of speakers from academia and activism, our guests discuss the historical legacy of enslavement, the periods of progress followed by rollbacks, the promise and peril of the current moment, and how we build more inclusive and just societies for the future.
A New Civil Rights Movement
Jill Collen Jefferson discusses the founding of her organization, Julian, how they draw on international human rights movements to build their civil rights strategy in the US, why focusing on Mississippi is so important, modern day lynchings, and how building community is central to building a new civil rights movement.
Understanding Critical Race Theory
What is critical race theory and why is it under attack? Victor Ray explores the related topics of structural racism and intersectionality, and how race shapes social processes typically considered race neutral.
Black Witnessing, Smartphones, and the New Protest Journalism
What is black witnessing, and how does it connect to movements for racial equity and justice? Can capturing a moment shape a movement? Allissa Richardson discusses the power of communication on social and racial justice.
Race and the Making of Modern Urban America
How does the country’s history affect the present — and how can we envision a more just future for everyone? Khalil Gibran Muhammad discusses the legacy of slavery; the intersection of racism, economic inequality, and criminal justice; and the importance of creating anti-racist institutions.
Explaining the Dream
Alan Jenkins, Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, discusses the importance of communication as it intersects with matters of race, the law, and social justice, and why the human rights agenda requires strategic communication, especially amidst a landscape where narrowcasting is overcoming the world of broadcast.